redolent

Feb. 3rd, 2021 07:44 am
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[personal profile] prettygoodword
redolent (RED-l-uhnt) - adj., fragrant, aromatic; (followed by of) having the smell (of); (followed by of) suggestive (of), evocative (of).


That last is, of course, a metaphoric extension of the original, literal scent. The cedar chest is redolent and the clothes stored within it are redolent of cedar. Entered English in 1400 (or at least, that's the exact date of the first citation) from Old French, from Latin redolentem, present participle of redolēre, to smell, composed of red-, an alternative to re-, again (here working as an intensifier) + olēre, to smell.

---L.

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